Julian of Norwich: Revealing Divine Love

I’m not a sports fan, but I’m a sucker for the Olympic Games. Except for the artistic events like ice-skating and gymnastics, the Olympics themselves are not thrilling to me; what excites me, instead, is the camaraderie.

On any given day, the media delivers conflict, turmoil and scandal into our homes, but the Olympics offer us something radically different: diversity, overcoming the odds and friendly competition. And wherever we are while watching the Games, we know that folks around the world are sharing a similarly uplifting experience.

So what does this have to do with an obscure mystic from the 14th century? Not much, but it has everything to do with that obscure mystic’s vision.

Julian of Norwich, as we call her, lived as a hermit at St. Julian’s Church in Norwich, England. We actually don’t know her real name or anything about her early years. What we do know of her comes from the tome she penned, Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love, which is said to be the first book in the English language by a woman published.

Staying Fit with Julian of Norwich

Look at everything with love: Pick a weekday for this exercise. From the moment of waking, whatever happens, open yourself to God’s love. When the alarm goes off, don’t hit the snooze button. Instead, give thanks to God for a new day. Did you burn the toast or singe your tongue with your coffee? Thank God nevertheless for fueling your body. Stuck in traffic? More time to contemplate all the gifts God has given you. Try to notice how many times you have to “catch” yourself from letting negative thoughts creep in. Can you begin to think more like Julian of Norwich on a regular basis? How difficult is it to see our world through the lens of God’s love?

Practice tolerance: Think about a group you hold some prejudice against and find a way to serve them. Do you hate people that break the law? Write a letter to a prisoner. Do you secretly think that most homeless people are lazy drug addicts? Go volunteer at a soup kitchen. Is there a certain ethnic food you’ve never tried? Take your sweetheart or friend on a dinner date!

“Offer it up:” It’s an old Catholic practice to “offer up” our suffering to God. You can even make a specific request, like this: “Dear God, when my back hurts at work, I’ll think about all of the people suffering from mental illness and offer my pain up for their sake.” Instead of hating life’s trials and tribulations, we can learn, little by little, how to thank God even for our pain.

Sixteen Revelations details Julian’s mystical experience at the age of 30, in which she accompanied Christ during His Passion. Julian discovered total love in Christ’s suffering, and in turn, translated this newfound awareness to all life’s experiences. During the vision, Julian asked Christ why he allowed sin to enter the world, and Jesus answered her, “It was necessary that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Julian concludes Revelations with another quote from Christ, “What, do you wish to know your Lord’s meaning in this thing? Know it well, love was his meaning. Who reveals it to you? Love. What did he reveal to you? Love. Why does he reveal it to you? For love. Remain in this, and you will know more of the same.”

Which brings us back to the Olympics. Watching this international event of peace, can we begin to imagine a world without war? A world where we resolve our conflicts with a handshake rather than a gunshot? What would life be like for people if they knew that “all shall be well” for themselves, their families and their neighbors? And how do we actualize this imagining, a world where all meaning is love?

Christ revealed His love to Julian through His Passion. Similarly, John teaches us, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16).

Are not the people of the world our brothers and sisters? Country competes against country in the Olympics, but everyone competing was made in God’s image, God’s love.

And as Catholics, we cannot forget our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters in Sochi. Russian President Vladimir Putin “approved legislation that doles out two-week jail sentences for any visitor to the country suspected of being gay or sharing this information with others,” The Nation reported. Putin also outraged the international community in January when he said that “gay people have nothing to fear in Russia [during the Olympics] as long as they leave children alone,” according to The Washington Post.

Our Catechism teaches us that homosexual persons “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.”

Watching the Olympics this year, let us pray to Julian of Norwich for understanding — understanding how the Cross leads to love, how love transforms suffering, and how “all shall be well” in and through Christ’s eternal love.

Megan Fincher

Megan Fincher is a Bertelsen Editorial Intern at the National Catholic Reporter. Megan has a master's degree in writing and poetics from Naropa University. She has taught writing and reading to preschoolers and university students, from rural Virginia to Seoul, South Korea. Even though she is a cradle Catholic, Megan really got to know Jesus when she was a live-in volunteer at both the Los Angeles and New York Catholic Worker houses.